Slovakia to buy Turkish unmanned combat aerial vehicle
Slovakia has taken an action to buy Bayraktar TB2 unmanned combat aerial vehicle (UCAV) from Turkey, Yeni Shafak newspaper has reported.
Slovakian Defence Minister Jaroslav Nad met with Baykar Defence General Manager Haluk Bayraktar to discuss the supply of Bayraktar TB2 UCAV to the Slovakian army, the report added.
In a post on his social media account, Nad announced that they had a good meeting with Bayraktar and that negotiations with other UCAV manufacturers are underway.
“Works on acquiring drones for Slovak military are moving forward. Good talk today with Mr. Bayraktar from Turkey and discussions with other drone producers ongoing,” Nad wrote.
Bayraktar TB2 UCAV has been exported to 22 different countries and approximately 300 Bayraktar TB2s have been produced so far.
Bayraktar TB2, which uses the Roketsan MAM-L and MAM-C ammunition, have been praised for its successes in the battles in Syria, Iraq, Libya, Karabakh and finally Ukraine.
The armed unmanned aerial vehicle Bayraktar TB-2 has resurfaced on the agenda, with films showing it blowing up Russian tanks, armored vehicles, and surface-to-air missile defence systems.
Earlier, the international media headlines described it as a "game-changer" with its spectacular performance in the second Karabakh war in 2020.
Since the first Bayraktar TB2s was delivered to Qatar in 2018, the company has signed 19 export agreements, including ones with Turkmenistan and Kyrgyzstan. Six new transactions have been added to these export deals in the last three months alone.
The Bayraktar TB2 is a Turkish medium-altitude long-endurance (MALE) unmanned combat aerial vehicle (UCAV) that can fly remotely or autonomously. Baykar Defence, a Turkish company, manufactures it primarily for the Turkish Armed Forces.
In the meantime, Turkey continues to work on its domestic National Combat Aircraft project. Turkish defence industry companies began to transfer their experience and knowledge to the Turkish Aerospace Industries' National Combat Aircraft (TAI). The aircraft, which is expected to be released from the hangar in 2023, has been ordered.